Solderless connector



March 16, 1943.

, H. D. DORFMAN SOLDERLESS CONNECTOR Filed July 12, 1941 [NS O1 WITNESSES:

INVENTOR Y ZA'TTORNE Patented Mar. 16, 1943 SOLDERLESS. CONNECTOR Hiller D. Dorfman, Forest Hills, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 12, 1941, Serial No. 402,168

1 Claim. (01. 173-259) My invention relates, generally, to wiring-terminal devices or connectors, and more particularly to devices of the type commonly known as solderless connectors.

An object of my invention, generally stated, is to provide a solderless connector which shall be simple and efiicient in operation and which may be economically manufactured and installed.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a solderless connector of the side connected type.

Another object of my invention is to provide a solderless connector which may be formed or stamped from copper or other suitable conducting material.

A further object of my invention is to provide a solderless connector requiring a relatively small amount of space.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a multi-piece solderless connector in which nal stud (not shown). vIn this manner a connector of the side-connected type is provided.

there is relatively little danger of the pieces becoming disassembled when not in use.

Other objects of my invention will be explained fully hereinafter or will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In accordance with my invention, a substantially rectangular sleeve, having a screw therein for engaging a conductor, is so attached to a terminal plate that the plate extends at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the conductor, thereby providing a side-connected terminal.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view, in front elevation, of a solderless connector embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view, in sideelevation, of the connector shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the connector;

Fig. 415 a view, in perspective, of the terminal plate for the connector;

Fig. 5 is a view, in perspective, of the connector sleeve; and

Fig. 6 is a view, in perspective, of the connector with a conductor clamped therein, a portion of the sleeve being broken away for cleamess.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Figures 1 to 6, the connector'illustrated therein comprises a terminal plate l0 having a pair of oppositely disposed ears ll thereon for retaining a substantially rectangular sleeve l2 on the terminal plate for receiving an electrical conductor l3. A portion of the plate I extends from the conductor l3 at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the conductor and is provided with an opening It for receiving a termi- The terminal plate l0 may be stamped from copper, or other suitable conducting material. The sleeve I2 is preferably obtained by cutting it from a piece of rectangular copper tubing. A threaded opening I 6 is provided in the sleeve I2 for a threaded screw or stud H which engages the conductor l3 to retain it in the sleeve.

As shown in Fig. 6, the ears I l on the terminal plate are bent toward each other to engage the sleeve [2. When the stud I1 is tightened against the conductor IS, the ears I l are clamped tightly against the sleeve, thereby solidly clamping the terminal plate and the sleeve toegther to make a good electrical connection. Thus, it makes no difi'erence whether or not the ears I l are firmly pressed against the sleeve during the assembly of the connector.

Since the conductor I3 is disposed on top of the ears H which are folded over the bottom side of the sleeve l2 which rests on top of the plate III, the conductor is in a plane that is considerably above the plane of the plate l0, which facilitates making connections to apparatus of certain types.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have provided a solderless connector which may be readily formed by well known manufacturing processes and which is very economical to manufacture. Furthermore, the present connector facilitates making electrical connections to apparatus of certain types, such as automatic circuit breakers of different ratings, as the connector may be utilized with wires of difl'erent sizes.

, above-described constructions, and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense.

I claim as my invention:

A terminal connector for an electrical conductor comprising, in combination, a terminal plate having a pair of oppositely disposed ears thereon, a substantially rectangular and seamless sleeve retained on said plate by said ears for receiving the conductor, said ears extending beyond opposite sides of said sleeve and being bent over into the open ends of the sleeve to engage the sleeve, said terminal plate extending from the conductor substantially at right angles mm D. mamas. 

